Lately, Kos and others throughout the blogosphere's favorite whipping boy has been all the special interest groups traditionally associated with the democrats, and rightfully so. In the eyes of those of us who actually want a competent government, they seem to be obstructionists, standing in the way of the 2006 electoral prize that all of us netroots have been frothing at the mouth for. We've been hearing the buzz about the feminist groups up in arms with Bob Casey over the abortion litmus test, and now the big story is the environmental groups standing behind everyone's favorite New England republican, Lincoln Chafee.
More below the fold...
I'll start off by saying that I don't pay that much attention to the politics of the environmental groups, mainly because I don't have the time and that I see this current administration and Congress as a lost cause. However, all of the resentment stirred up by the the Sierra Club and LCV's endorsement of Sen. Chafee puts me off a little bit. Yes, I know that the Senate hangs in the balance in November, but we have to be a little pragmatic. By totally abandoning the Republican party to all of the mindless, exploitative business interests, we run the risk of leaving both the American and global environment subject to shifts in US politics.
Think about it, we have a president who blatantly disregards all science that lays an incredibly compelling case for global warming. His bureaucrats got at length to alter reports by scientists that urge a more responsible environmental policy, and his administration has turned turned loose all of the mining and logging interests on pristine federal lands. And there's more where that came from, too. Most Republican legislators currently in Congress have an atrocious voting record on environmental issues, and calls for changes within the party are small and often stamped out.
Therefore, it is worth it to reach across the aisle and support those on the other side who are committed to the environment. Of course there will be plenty holes in Sen. Chafee's record, it's an election year and he's part of a dying breed of moderate Republicans. All of the far right are well-inclined to take him out and replace him with another Club for Growth clone just like they tried to do to Arlen Specter. Not to mention the fact that no one on the blogosphere gripes too much about Sen. Ben Nelson from Nebraska, a man who breaks party ranks more often than not.
Face it people, climate change is happening. For those of us who are still in their glory years, this is a reality we have to face. This is more than just politics, this is a future that is increasingly looking to be inevitable. We can't trust the Democrats to save us, as they were fully complicit in the 95-0 vote on the resolution against the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. The Carbon Economy will fight to its last death throes to continue making money (and lots of it). We need more legislators to pull their heads out of their asses and do something about it. Politics is, at its most fundamental level, a public service, not the stupid money game we see in the degenerate form that it's in today.